Why the Caged Bird Sings
by blueink3
Summary: There was another Potter before Harry. She was hidden. Raised by Lupin, she is asked to do a task on her thirteenth birthday that concerns the family and the brother that she doesn't know about. Better than it sounds. Honest.


Very much AU. But we'll see how it goes. Reviews are nice. Like sugar and spice.☺ Oh and if I got the dates somewhat wrong, please be willing to overlook that. I do apologize.

Prologue

Christmas 1979

"Just be careful."

The redhead nodded numbly and looked to the young man standing beside her. He hadn't moved nor said anything in the past ten minutes.

"Do you really think something could happen?" She glanced down at the child in her arms. Fear flooded her as she imagined any harm coming to her baby. The one month old curled her tiny fingers around her mother's thumb and nestled deeper into the fluffy pink blanket.

The old man stared at the young couple, a heavy weight pressing on his conscience.

"I think something could. Better to be prepared. I don't want you to worry yourselves with it, though. You've just finished up school. It's best to look ahead to your bright futures."

The young man still didn't say anything.

"Thank you, Professor."

His sparkling eyes focused on her. "Don't quite thank me yet, Ms. Evans…or should I now say, Mrs. Potter." She smiled. "This is only the beginning."

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July 1980

"Cate! Come say hi to your new brother."

Catherine Potter held her father's hand as she toddled over to where her mother held the smallest person she had ever seen. Her head didn't even pass the top of the bed and she stood on tiptoes to see if her eyes could peer over. With a shriek, she was scooped up into her father's arms and he held her on his knee so she could look at the pink face surrounded by the blue blanket.

"He's ugly."

"Catie! That's not a very nice thing to say." Her mother frowned but her father was trying to hold his laughter in.

"He looks like you, James, so I wouldn't laugh too much."

The young man cleared his throat and sobered up. "Right."

The tired looking woman turned to her daughter once more. "Catherine, this is Harry. You're a big sister now, so you have watch out for him, ok? You have to take good care of him."

She shook her head enthusiastically. She liked the thought of being important.

"I will, Mummy."

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September 1981

"We have reason to believe that your family is in very real danger."

The young man paced the length of his living room, chancing a glance every now and then at the old man speaking to him.

"And why would you think that? Why now? We're doing so well. We're happy!"

"I know you are. I know you are, James. But – a prophecy was made. One that concerns your family quite closely."

"What prophecy?" The young woman finally spoke up from her spot on the couch.

"We think it refers to Harry, although it doesn't state his name directly."

"And why do you think that?" The young woman rose and began to pick up discarded toys that her daughter had left around the room.

"You've defied Voldemort three times. Harry was born at the end of July. It makes sense. Trust me."

The couple looked at each other. "What do we need to do?"

"Go into hiding with Harry."

The young woman made a choking noise. "And Catherine?"

"She will be placed in the care of someone of your choosing."

"Why?" The man paled in front of him.

"It would be safer if you split up. Catherine is not the one they're after. It would be devastating if she was hurt because steps were not taken."

"You don't think I can protect my daughter?"

The old man held up a calming hand. "James, that was not my implication. I have every reason to believe that you can provide your daughter with the utmost protection. But I would like you to use those abilities and focus them on Harry. He needs you more right now."

The young woman sunk back to the couch clutching a teddy bear tight to her chest.

"Okay. She'll go to Sirius."

"Lily, Sirius is in just as much trouble as you are."

"Remus then. He's her godfather after all."

The old man sighed. "You know that's out of the question. As much as I admire Mr. Lupin, putting a two year old in his care would become very problematic once a month."

Lily stood up and let her tears drop. "Then you tell me, Professor! You tell me who you want my baby to go to! You seem to have all of the answers."

Her husband came up behind her and touched her shoulder. She turned into him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I understand that this is hard for the both of you. Please do not misunderstand me. I want to help you. I think you both know that Catherine cannot stay with you or anyone directly associated with you. For the time being."

"Who should she go with?"

The old man inhaled. "Me."

The young couple stared at him in bewilderment. "You?"

He addressed the young man. "Yes. Me. And not just me. She will be taken care of by the majority of the Hogwarts staff. She will be given anything that she desires as long as it is within reasonable limits and she will enjoy the protection that Hogwarts has to offer, until she can return to you."

Husband looked at wife. She shrugged noncommittally.

"Okay. Catherine will go with you."

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1 November 1981

Albus Dumbledore walked the halls at a pace much slower than his normal gait. With bowed head, he passed students without so much as a nod of acknowledgement. The twinkle had gone from his eye, there was no sweet bouncing around in his mouth, his normally active hands were folded pensively within the sleeves of his robes.

A shriek and a giggle up ahead made his slow walk stop completely. He leaned against the castle wall, unable to support himself anymore. This had never been a part of his plan.

He approached the growing noise and turned the corner to find Remus Lupin levitating sweets in the air. Albus peered further and there she was, reaching with all her height trying to the catch the floating candies as they hovered near her before skirting away. She giggled again, her dark hair bouncing. He sighed and cleared his throat. Remus looked up, smiled, and promptly lowered his wand.

"Just having a bit of fun. We aren't in trouble are we? I know no sweets before midday, but…Professor?"

Dumbledore looked the small girl who was crouched on the floor gathering up the sweets that had dropped when the spell that was keeping them up ended. He slowly shook his head in Remus's direction.

"No. You're in no trouble at all." His voice was strained and Remus knew it. He had to tell him.

"Professor, what's – "

"Remus, there's been an attack."

"Where?"

Dumbledore stared at Catherine playing on the floor. Remus paled.

"No."

Dumbledore finally met Lupin's eyes and all was confirmed.

"No, Dumbledore. It's not true. Tell me it isn't."

"I'm sorry Remus. I'm so sorry."

Remus turned away from Catherine and broke down. "All of them?"

"Not Harry. He's with Hagrid."

Remus nodded and bowed his head, putting his hand over his eyes. Catherine looked up quizzically at Dumbledore, her candy forgotten.

"Uncle Remus?"

He took a deep breath to keep the shake out of his voice. "Just a minute, Catie." He looked at Dumbledore again. "You're sure?"

"I wish I wasn't."

Remus numbly nodded and finally glanced at the little girl. She was absorbed in her sweets again. "I'll tell her."

Dumbledore put his hand on man's shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything."

Remus walked over to where Catherine was playing and sat on the floor next to her. He picked her up and placed her in his lap.

"Catie, I…I have something to tell you."

"More sweets?" She looked at him with hope-filled eyes.

He let out a laugh that turned into a sob. "No, Catie, not more sweets. I have to tell you something important. Something – something sad." The girl's eyes widened. "Mummy and Daddy, they – they aren't coming home anymore."

As the news of the deaths of James and Lily Potter spread, a child was left parentless, an orphan, presumed to have been lost as well. All that was left of the Potter name was a small boy with a telling scar, wrapped in blankets on a Surrey doorstep.

If they only knew.

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Halloween 1985

"Catie!"

Remus climbed the stairs of the owlery and exhaled when he got to the top.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you, why didn't you answer me?"

The young girl shrugged. Remus walked up to her and bent down so he was nose to nose with her.

"I was worried about you." Taking in her flushed features and blue lips, he shook off his coat and put it around her shoulders.

"Come on, let's go inside. Professor Dumbledore has some sweets for you."

"I don't want any sweets."

Remus stopped. Now he knew something was definitely wrong with her. "Catie?"

"Where did you go?"

Remus panicked. Catherine looked at him with more severity than a six year old should have. "Where did you go? You left me here. I couldn't find you. And – and you know what today is."

Remus felt something twist inside of him. He couldn't tell her where he was the previous night. His fatigued look and new cuts were proof enough. Halloween had not become a happy holiday full of treats for the Potter daughter. It was a day of anger and loss. Even though Catherine didn't remember exactly how her mother and father came to not be in her life anymore, she felt their absence. So Halloween was never an easy nor a pleasant time.

"Catie, I had to go away for the night. I wasn't feeling well and Professor Dumbledore wanted to send me to get some help. But I'm all better now." He quickly added at her worried look.

"Okay. Because I don't want to lose you too."

She wrapped her arms around the tall man's waist and he hoisted her up. She was almost too big for him to pick up anymore. He kissed her cheek and set her down.

"Come on, let's go inside. It's cold out here."

She nodded against him.

"By the way, how did you get up here? The door was locked when I got to the top. And as far as I know, you haven't been practicing any magic much less the _Alohomora_ spell." He felt Catherine stiffen beside him. "Catie?" He bent down to her level again. "Catie, what is it?" She shook her head. "Sweetie, whatever it is, you can tell me."

She looked at him with watery eyes before the words came tumbling out in a jumbled rush. "I was scared and worried and I do it when I'm nervous or excited and, and I turned into owl, and, and I flew up here, please don't be mad, please don't be mad."

Remus's jaw had gone slack. "You turned into an owl?"

She nodded. "A white one."

"You're an Animagus?!"

She began to nod but stopped and looked at him in confusion. "What's an Animagus?"

"Someone who can turn into an animal whenever they want to. I have to take you to Dumbledore."

He stood up but she tugged him back down. "No! He'll be mad at me!"

Remus fell over with the force that she pulled at him with. "Why on earth would he be mad at you?"

She shuffled her feet against the cold stone floor. "Because I told him I'd behave until you got back."

"And you think that turning into an owl and flying into the owlery counts as not behaving? Oh just you wait until I tell you what your father and I used to do when we were students here."

She smiled at him, always eager to learn more about the family that she lost. Remus thanked someone up above that she didn't remember Harry. That was a topic that he didn't want to get into yet. He returned the smile, biting back the pain he felt at leaving Sirius and Peter out of the memory. He still couldn't believe that Sirius had betrayed them like that. He couldn't believe it so much that he deep down, he knew that there was terribly wrong about the situation.

"Uncle Remus?" Catherine broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I'm ready for my sweets now."

He laughed. "Of course you are."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What do you mean she won't be going to Hogwarts? She's a witch! She belongs here!"

Dumbledore calmly looked at the seething man standing on the other side of his desk.

"Remus, please. You have to understand that when she is in her third year, her brother will receive his letter."

"Are you seriously telling me that her education is going to be sacrificed so that Harry can attend this school? Because he's the Boy Who Lived? She's lost just as much as he has. Just because she doesn't have a bloody mark to prove it doesn't mean that she can be brushed aside like this!"

"Remus." Dumbledore looked at him, that twinkle annoying the other man more than any other time.

"Miss Potter won't be going to Hogwarts because she'll be beginning her education now. Today in fact. She will go through seven years of training until she reaches her thirteenth year. When she reaches that age, we will have a special project for her. But until that time, we won't bother with it. She has a lot to get started on at the moment."

The old man smiled and Remus looked at him skeptically. "She's starting now? Here at Hogwarts?"

"Precisely."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

May 1991

"Catherine!"

"Uh oh." She knew she was in trouble whenever her godfather used her full name. With a flick of her wrist, her bed was made and her books were neatly piled. Casting one last frantic glance around, she made sure that her room was relatively organized before opening the door and descending the stairs.

"I swear I didn't do it!"

Remus looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ and started laughing.

"I never said I was angry."

"Oh." Catherine plopped down at the kitchen table across from him and stole a piece of bacon off of his plate. "So what's going on in the world today?"

"You know, the same. Threats, occasional attacks, and conspiracy theories about You-Know-Who."

"Mmm. What's the latest?"

"He's in Mozambique."

Catherine snorted and grabbed another piece of bacon. "Interesting."

"Hey get your own breakfast!"

"I would but you never let me near the stove anymore!"

"That's because last time I did, you nearly left us homeless!" Remus moved his plate out of her reach. Catherine caught sight of the back of the paper and read the headline.

"Huh. So where do they think The Boy Who Lived is? I bet he isn't in Mozambique."

Remus stiffened and slowly turned the paper to the back page. "Um, no. He's-he's not in Mozambique. I mean, I doubt he is."

Catherine eyed her godfather for a moment. "You all right, Uncle Remus?"

"Huh? Yeah, fine. Um, we have to go into Hogwarts today."

"But I don't have lessons today." Catherine pouted in a way that sorely reminded him of James.

"I know, but Dumbledore wants to talk to you."

She held up her hands. "I _swear_ I didn't do it!"

Remus chuckled. "And again, I never said you did."

Catherine followed Remus as he went to fix her breakfast. "Then why does Professor Dumbledore want to talk to me?"

"You'll have to ask him that yourself. I'm not even quite sure."

Catherine bit her lip, deep in thought, a habit inherited from her mother. Remus closed his eyes and turned, the wound still fresh after eleven years.

"Funny that he has my last name.'

"Huh?" Remus quickly turned from the stove.

"Harry Potter. He and I have the same last name."

Remus smiled slightly and gave her the same answer that he had been giving her ever since she learned about the great Lily and James Potter and their famous son.

"You're not the only Potter in the world, Catie."

Oh Catherine had heard of Lily and James Potter. Multiple times. But to her, they were valiant heroes, people to emulate. Not the mother and father that she cried herself to sleep over.

"I know I'm not. It'd just be nice, you know, to find a Potter like me."

Remus looked at her sadly, the eggs forgotten. "I know, Catie." Her eyes were so much like her mother's. She had dark brown curls that fell down her back, a mixture of the auburn and black that her parents passed on. She had her mother's temper and her father's sense of humor. There was no doubt that this was the daughter of Lily and James Potter…and yet they had done such a good job at fooling the world.

"Uncle Remus?"

"Yeah?" His dazed eyes focused on her.

"The eggs." She pointed behind him at the stove that was beginning to smoke.

"Bugger!"

She laughed. "Maybe we should keep you out of the kitchen from now on."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They walked in silence down the empty corridors of the old school. Despite being thirteen, she still had to take two steps for every one of his.

"Why is it so quiet?"

"Maybe everyone's in class."

In all honestly, Remus had no idea why the school was so empty. There was usually at least a ghost floating around but he didn't see a soul – living or dead. He didn't even hear Peeves in the distance. He should've been relieved but it was a bit unnerving. He felt a tug on his arm and he looked up to find themselves in front of the gargoyle. How'd that happen already? He cleared his throat.

"_Tootsweets._"

The gargoyle lurched and allowed them to pass.

"What's a toot-sweet? Ooh is it new? Can we pick some up at Honeydukes on our way home?"

"Down girl." Remus laughed. When it came to sweets, the girl had a one-track mind. Remus knocked on the door at the top but he knew the professor on the other was aware of his presence already.

"Come in. Well, good morning, Remus, Miss Potter."

Catherine scrunched her nose at the formality. "Good morning, Professor."

Remus cleared his throat, anxious to know what the meeting was about. Dumbledore took pleasure in making him wait.

"Toot-sweet, Miss Potter?"

Catherine's eyes went wide at the bowl Dumbledore was now holding out for her. She made for it, but halted and turned to Remus for permission. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. It saved him a trip to Honeydukes. Catherine dove into the bowl and pulled out a red and white striped candy that whistled when she sucked on it. She started laughing and her giggle was infectious. Remus laughed and turned to Dumbledore and when the girl was sufficiently distracted, the smile faded from Dumbledore's face. Remus stopped laughing. In that moment, he knew why they were there. He knew why they were called to a private meeting in the headmaster's office, seven years after Remus stood in that very same spot, demanding why Catherine wasn't attending Hogwarts. The truth was going to come out. It was time for Catherine's "big task." Remus looked at the old man in front of him and hated him for disrupting the relatively quiet life that he shared with the girl that had become like a daughter to him. It was time for Catherine to know who she was – to find those Potters like her. Dumbledore cleared his throat and Catherine stopped whistling.

"Sorry, sir."

The old man smiled. "Quite all right, Miss Potter. Now we've brought you here - "

"No. You've brought her here," Remus corrected.

The underlying hostility did not go unnoticed by Catherine. She glanced in between the two. Things seemed fine a moment ago. Dumbledore continued.

"_I've_ brought you here, because I have something very important that I need you to do…It concerns your family." Her eyes widened.

"My family?"

"Yes, Miss Potter. Now tell me, how is your animagus form coming?"

…

Let me know what you think! Good? The most awful thing ever written that shouldn't have another word added to it? Please I need feedback with this one!


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